Blindly
by WitchyXander728
Summary: On the eighth year anniversary of Lucius' sentencing to Azkaban, the last thing Draco expected was a visit from a certain bushy haired witch who had long ago broken her promise. / He was the only one who could help on her missing Muggles case, but could Draco forgive her for what she failed to do? She had promised him justice, and he had lost his father.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello hello!  
To say I'm super nervous about posting this is an understatement. Haha This fanfic all started from a dream I had one night. I literally dreamed the chapter of H&D in the basement. (later chapter) and I finally decided to write it down one day. Once I started, I couldn't really stop. This is definitely something out of my comfort zone so I really appreciate the time you take to read this!**

Chapter One

"Bugger."  
Hermione glanced at the clock in the corner of her office. Stifling a groan as she realized it was 8:21 p.m. Once again she found herself losing track of the time as she lost herself in her case files. "Obsessed" was a word that had been used in the past to describe her. She knew what people said about her. She thought of it as being diligent and having a better work ethic. Tonight though...tonight she wasn't in the mood to give herself a pep talk. This was the fourth night in a row that she found herself staying late at the Ministry. Not even taking notice of the many bodies in her department as they slowly made their departure earlier that evening. She leaned back over her chair and stretched her neck and shoulders out, feeling the beginning of a pressure headache and not liking the promise of it one bit.  
Glancing at the files strewed in front of her for the umpteeth time that night, she pondered on her next move. She had hit a dead end. On the non-magical spectrum at least. Every scene of the crime was the same. Glancing at the still photos she saw the similar crime scenes. Too clean. All the Inspector's findings were the same. No fingerprints. No witnesses. The Muggles simply disappeared from their homes. 'I think it's time to do this the Magical way.' Making a note to tell Kingsley she would be taking a few days off of work next week, she closed the files.  
With a sigh that filled the room, she quickly put her many files in the corner of her desk. Vanished her old cold cup of coffee, and proceeded out her door. Praying that no one but the security wizard would see her, she was taken by surprise as she turned to exit the lift and ran right into Harry. "Harry? What on earth are you doing here this late at night? Is everything alright at home? Is Ginny ok?"

Harry gave her a reassuring smile and threw his arm over the back of her shoulders, "Everything is fine. I just forgot a file I wanted to go over tonight to prep for the court case tomorrow morning. I just flooed over to grab it, then I'll be heading home. Gin is doing fine. Uncomfortable and irritable…..she's going a little stir crazy." He said with a teasing look in his eye. "She could really use some girl time with you. She misses you." He gave her a pointed stare.  
Hermione's shoulders slumped a little and a guilty look overtook her face, "I'm really sorry. I know I've been burning the candle at both ends lately. Tell her I'll be over Sunday and I'll give her a long pedicure. Even if she can't see her feet, at least she'll have cute toes for the delivery." Barking out a quick laugh, Harry nodded his agreement until a look of concern masked his face again. "This is the fourth night this week you've been staying late. Are you sure everything is alright?"  
Raising one eyebrow she gave him a accusatory look. "How do you know this is my fourth late night here this week?" A slow blush made its way up Harry's neck to the tips of his ears. Rubbing the back of his neck he gave her a sidelong look, "Dawson's been sending me updates the last few weeks by owls. He waits till you leave so I usually know what time you're heading home."  
Hermione spun on her heels to glare behind her down the hall. The normally neutral Security Wizard who was known for "Minding his own business," was currently making an effort at keeping his back turned and seeming very interested in a large office plant that was stationed in the corner.  
With an exasperated sigh Hermione marched past Harry and headed toward the Floos. She was at her wits end this evening. Too many failed attempts at finding a new lead and then to find out that her friend was having her watched…...She could hear Harry's quick footsteps follow her as he called out her name. "'Mione! Come on. How else am I going to know what's going on with you lately? You cancel all our lunch dates. You haven't been over for dinner in ages. You come to work, stay in your office, and only come out if you're heading to the archives or headed home. It's not healthy. Gin and I are getting worried. So is Ron. We all are."  
The thought of Ron being worried for her tugged at her heart. It was nearing two years since they both came the realization that they were better off as friends than lovers. But the pain was still there. Honestly she mostly just missed having someone at home to be with. To share her day with and tell of her accomplishments and failures. The cold bed she falls asleep and wakes up in was starting to feel feel very depressing.

Harry tugged on her sleeve and shook her out of her trance. A pained look etched his face and she once again felt guilty for the worry she'd been causing him and Ginny. "I'm fine. Really I am. I just…..I can't let this case drop. I know something is going on and I have to figure out what it is."  
"Wait. Is this about the missing Muggles? I thought you looked into that ages ago. We both looked into it and didn't find any sort of magical connection so we dropped it. Why the sudden interest?" asked Harry as he gave her a confused look. "Unless…..you never actually dropped it."  
She stood there facing him. Using all her willpower to keep a blank stare. "Damnit Hermione. You've been working on this for 5 months on your own?! Why didn't you come to me about this earlier? Or another Auror in the department. You know I would have spared you a body if I thought you needed one." The tone of frustration echoing off the empty corridor reverberated through her and she winced.  
"I did come to you about this. And you're right, we looked into it and found nothing. This should have been a easy case. Open and shut. But I…...I just couldn't get over the feeling that we were missing something. That I was missing something! I couldn't just leave it be. These Muggles….they deserve to be found. Or at least found out what happened to them. I can't explain it Harry. Ever since that morning reading the papers and finally realizing that all their cases were similar...No forced entry. A small scuffle but no witnesses who heard anything? Or saw anything? Some of these victims were large men. One was a construction worker. How do you take someone from their home and have NO witnesses? No sign of a huge struggle? Unless...unless magic was involved somehow. A disillusionment charm, a muffliato and you could levitate a body out of their own home and no one would be the wiser!" Her frustration was plabable and she turned around to take a deep breath. She was mentally pleading for Harry to believe her.  
"Listen, I know how this case upset you. I know it made you think of you par-"

She spun around and poked him in the chest, "This has NOTHING to do with my parents! I can't believe you're even bringing that up!"

Her anger started boiling at the mention of her parents because Harry, as always, hit it on the head with his comment. These missing muggles DID remind her of her parents. It had been 8 years since Hermione found them in Australia...only to find out that she couldn't reverse the memory charm she had placed on them. One of the few times she resented the fact she was considered "The brightest witch of our time." She had been too good at her spell…. She was left having to mourn the loss of her parents, as if they had lost their lives in the war. _'Because I DID lose my parents. They'll just never know they lost a daughter as well.'_ Hermione felt the sting of that loss every day. She lived in their house now. Not wanting to lose the only thing she had left of them.  
"'Mione, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-" She turned back around and grabbed a handful of Floo powder. Facing Harry again she looked him in the eyes. "I'm not going to stop with this Harry. I don't care if the Auror office thinks I'm chasing a ghost trail. I have to follow this through till the end." Without giving Harry the chance to answer, she threw the powder in the fire, stepped into the green flames, and vanished.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm so excited for this second chapter! I really just want to put out good content so I'm trying not to rush the plot or details. Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter Two

_"...Guilty! Lucius Malfoy, you have been sentenced to 15 years in Azkaban for your involvement as a Death Eater and as a supporter for You-know-who."_

_A shrill scream to his left made him turn, seeing his mother's grief stricken face, "No! No Draco….No…"_

The dream left him as it always did. Heart racing, skin clammy and with a headache. He rolled over and buried his face into his pillow. "Bloody hell." came his thoughts as he threw the pillow off him and swung to the side of his bed. Feet on the floor, he rubbed his face with both hands.

The dreams always returned back around this time. The anniversary of the end of the Second Wizarding War….and the war trials that came after. Trying to rid the bitter taste out of his mouth, he made his way to the bathroom for a glass of water. Swishing it around and spitting it out, Draco Malfoy looked up at his same grey eyes, now a shade darker, were more tired, older. The eyes of someone who had seen too much at such a young age.

It had been eight years since the War ended. His once pointy face had softened into mature angles. Left, were still the prominent cheekbones now covered with blonde stubble. Where he was lean before he had filled out with toned muscle. He scratched at the small patch of hair just below his navel and he sighed for what felt like the fifth time that morning.

Stretching his arms and rotating his neck, he returned to his bedroom and toward his chest of drawers. He extracted his running clothes and proceeded to change. Sitting on the edge of his bed and tying his shoes, Draco gave one final shake of his head to rid himself of the dream, and made his way downstairs. He grabbed his I-Pod, put in his headphones, and made his way outside.

Standing in front of his house, anyone who knew him wouldn't have ever dreamt he'd be living in such a…...modest house. It was a two level, 2 bedroom 1 bath house. White stone made up the exterior with a dark brown roof and a thin layer of green ivy made its way over the front and up to the windows. A small stone wall bordered the front of the property with a small iron gate that led to the front door. It was secluded. It was old. It was just what he had been looking for 7 years ago when he needed to escape The Manor and the memories that came with it. Draco closed the gate behind him and began his run.

He had discovered running not long after moving in. He was alone for the first time in his life. No servants. No parents. No Crabbe or Goyle to follow him around everywhere. No fucking Dark Lord controlling his family. Running gave him the escape he needed, the chance to run from his hatred and guilt. To seek solitude in only the weezing of his breath and the burn in his legs. He was compiling his mental checklist for the day.  
1- Finish up this latest batch of potions.  
2- Get in contact with St. Mungos for the next shipment  
3- He really needed to contact his mother.

She was always extra depressed this time of year. When most everyone else celebrated the start of spring, his family were celebrating the anniversary of his father being imprisoned in Azkaban.

He ran harder. Wanting to push that thought away as far as he could. To forget his dream and that day in the courtroom. When his mother had collapsed in his arms as his father was led away in chains…. Sprinting that last few yards to the where the road intersected with the main one, Draco leaned over his legs as he took gulps of the crisp cool hair, not noticing the small "pop" of apparition, or the bushy-haired witch standing feet behind him in the lane.

She really hoped this plan wasn't going to bite her back in the ass. It was a fluke really that she even found a lead on the case at all. Two weeks after her confrontation with Harry, Hermione had kept even more to herself. Being cordial to Harry when they were seen together throughout the Ministry, but other than that, she ignored his apologies and the pained look in his eyes. He just couldn't understand. She couldn't really explain it herself if she were being honest. So she kept her skipped lunches and late nights. Only visiting Ginny when she knew Harry was away on a case. She even visited a few of the crime scenes and had tried newer spells to help detect any magic that had been performed.

She was proven right when one house had unearthed a trail of a leviosa spell, but nothing more. In frustration and irritability, Hermione had apparated home, changed into her gym clothes, and headed to the rec center a few blocks down her street. She was doing her yoga and listening to a book on tape when something piqued her interest. It was a book on Cold Case files and in the current story it was mentioned how they had tried to backtrack the victim's movements days prior to when the crime was committed. Hermione had only ever focused on the night of the disappearances. How stupid could she have been? If she wanted to find these victims, she had to get to know them better. What their hobbies were. Who their friends were and where they liked to eat.

Rushing up from her mat, she gathered her things and sped out the front door. She needed to get a hold of her contact in Scotland Yard. She finally had a different angle to work and she was praying to Godric Gryffindor that it worked. Her efforts proved fruitful two days later as she was leaning over Brandon's desk staring at his computer. "So this was three days before our third victim went missing? And this footage is from an ATM" she said while taking her meticulous notes.

"That's right. Benjamin Young withdrew money during his lunch break and after grabbing lunch headed back to work. We later spot him going into his gym at around 7:20 p.m. Then the next morning in the local coffee shop near his flat." The images changed to all three sightings as Brandon was dragging the windows to make a timeline and started playing all three footages at once.

Hermione's eyes flew from window to window, desperate to find anything that could give her a clue. "Again" as she watched the videos reset. Finally, there….."THERE!" She said, pointing to the footage of the gym. "That man, in the top corner. He looks like he's waiting for a cab…..but he watches our guy the whole time. From the moment he leaves his car to when he enters the gym. And look! He's there in the coffee shop! Same behavior, trying to seem like he's preoccupied but he's watching our victim the entire time! This can't simply be a coincidence."

She couldn't hide the excitement in her voice or the butterflies that just settled in her stomach. Finally, after almost six months, she had a break. The rest of the day was spent scouring video footage of two other victims and finding the same man. The man with a short cropped brown ponytail and dark red leather loafers. He appeared in almost every video taken of the victim's days before they disappeared.

As the hours drew longer she couldn't help but feel that she had seen this man before but in a different setting. She racked and racked her brain but she couldn't put her finger on it. She and Brandon decided to call it a night and she spent the last ten minutes cataloging all the footage onto a zip drive for her to review at home. It wasn't until the next morning when she discovered where she had seen the mysterious man before.

Laying on her desk was the updated list for prisoners who were up for a parole hearing. Scanning through the names she couldn't help but notice that one name was not included. A certain Mr. Lucius Malfoy. Confusion overtook her as she realized that he was the only Death Eater not up for parole who had been sentenced 8 years ago. It was then that something clicked and she lunged to her filing cabinet and retrieved his file. Reviewing the notes from the night of his sentencing, she found what she was looking for.

The man. The witness. The person who turned the tide to a most certain outcome of a man on trial.


	3. Chapter 3

**I've been looking forward to this chapter for some time now! Things will start picking up after this chapter and we'll start to see Draco and Hermione's relationship start to blossom. **

Chapter Three

"You've got to be joking."

His words pierced the silence between them when he had turned and finally noticed her. Granger. The women he last saw 8 years ago when she agreed to be a character witness for his father. The empty promises of a swift and fair trial….all for nothing.

He could only stand there and stare at her. Her weary expression. The way she shifted her weight from one foot to another and bit her lip in aprehension. What the hell was she even doing here? And better yet, how the hell did she even find him? Finally, after coming to terms with the fact that she was indeed, standing at the crossroads of the road, he broke the silence a second time.

"You better have a damn good reason for showing up here. I told you the last time I saw you that you and your two cronies needed to stay the hell away from me and my family." the clipped and bitter tone of his words were carried by the slight breeze of the morning. He realized that she was ill prepared for the weather. Her thin blouse, skirt and shoulder bag did nothing to help against the brisk chill that welcomed the mornings here. She looked as if she had been too preoccupied to have thought out the circumstances of her apparating across the country.

"I…...I had...some questions. I came across something in an investigation and I knew you were the only person who would know anything about it." she folded her arms against the chill and continued shifting her weight but never breaking eye contact. "And why the hell do you think I would help you with anything? You must be bloody desperate to even believe for a second I would be willing to help." he stared her down and took a little pleasure in seeing the way she cowered just a bit from his gaze.

"Because….because if you help me….we could help your father."

The silence stretched for what felt like ages. Eyes locked. He stared her down like a lion would stare down his prey. He wasn't quite sure he had heard her correctly. Help his father? Why in the world would she even care about him? She had already caused enough damage to his family. He had trusted her. Had even started to like her as a human being and at one point they were even able to carry on a nice conversation between the two of them. It was a nice change, having someone to keep up with intellectually. And then the day of his father's trial arrived. She had asked him to trust her and it resulted in his father rotting in prison.

"I think you need to leave."

He turned and headed back towards his cottage, not bothering to glance behind him.

"Draco. Draco wait , please." He felt her grab his arm and he stopped, looking down at her hand. She quickly released it and took a step back. "Listen. I know you don't want to see me. I get that, I do. But I honestly believe we can help your father if you just take the time to sit with me and let me explain. Please."

He stared at her for another minute, not even believing that he was actually considering this. "Bloody hell." He turned and motioned with his head for her to follow, not giving her a chance to catch up. He could hear her huffing from the effort it took for her to stay close but he didn't slow his pace. He thought he must be going mad to even be allowing her any time with him.

When he finally got to his front door and went to open it, he hesitated. Did he really want to open this door? Literally and figuratively? He swore to never have any more association with this women or her friends. To begrudge them for the rest of his life. But if he could help his father…..he took another deep breath, and opened the front door.

He could hear her following him in as he set down his iPod and keys on the entryway table and led them into the front sitting room. He faced the window as he heard her enter the room and take a seat on the couch. "Would you like some tea?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them and he flinched as he realized that he had actually sounded cordial to her.

"Oh. Um, yes please. If you don't mind. I left in somewhat of a hurry and didn't plan for the weather." She said as she rubbed her arms to chase away the cold. Giving a curt nod, he turned to leave towards the kitchen and gave his wand a quick flick that lit the fire behind him.

He grunted in response and headed out the door. He honestly could not believe how his day had taken such a turn. He had awoken that morning planning to brew some potion and be broody for the remainder of the day. Did she honestly have to pick today of all days? Draco entered the kitchen and made his way to cupboard. Flicking his wand and starting the kettle to boil, he found the tea cups and saucers and placed them on the tea tray, along with a few biscuits Nory had left a few days back.

Nory was his old house elf who he had decided to free once his mother had left to France and he was no longer at Malfoy Manor. He would admit that he was not expecting the reaction he received from Nory. She looked him right in the eye and said, "My's masta' was a sad man but not so's bad as you-know-whos. Can Nory stays with young masta' Malfoy? I's would love to serves young masta' Draco."

Draco couldn't help but feel touched by the elves request. He had agreed, but only on a partime schedule. The cottage was simply too small to justify Nory staying there to live. Instead, she split her time between the Hogwarts kitchen and his place. Coming to clean 3x a week and leaving meals in the fridge for him to reheat.

The whistling of the kettle lulled him back to the presence and he finished making the tea.

Trying to calm her jumbled nerves, Hermione had to force herself to settle her bouncing leg. She reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out the files of the missing muggles and Lucius' file. Hearing Draco enter the room, she sat up and straightened her skirt. She watched him as he set the tray down and offered her a saucer. "Thank you." she said as she watched him settle himself across from her.

"Erhm" she muttered as she shifted again. Draco simply stared at her. His grey eyes felt like they were literally piercing through her. Gathering her Gryffindor courage, she took a last deep breath and started her practiced speech.

"Thank you again for meeting with me. I know how difficult this must be for you. To start, I wanted to give you a brief summary of what I've been investigating the last 6 months. I read the muggle paper everyday and one morning I realized that I had read another case involving a missing muggle. It had been the fifth case in a span of a month and I couldn't help but notice the similarities. Even though some of these muggles lived on crowded streets or with roommates, there were never any witnesses. Nothing seen nor heard. I couldn't help but think of the possibility of magic being used in all the cases. So Harry and I investigated but we really found little to go on. Our usual magic detection spells didn't reveal anything. After a few more days looking into it...Harry said there was nothing for us to do, and the Auror office dropped it."

He was still sitting there, not having moved a muscle, placing the polite look on his face of someone not wanting to be rude, but not caring at what was being said.

"Anyways, it had been dropped for some time but I still couldn't shake the feeling that I was missing something. Surely there could be more advanced spell work at play and I had simply failed to detect it! Or perhaps there HAD been witnesses and they were memory charmed, or mayb-"

"Are you actually here, in my house, telling me about missing MUGGLES? You are wasting my time Granger and I want you out of my home, NOW." Draco stood, his full height towering over her as he made his way around the coffee table and stood next to the door. "I don't know what made you think that you could simply show up here and spew this nonsense, but I am a busy man and I no longer owe you or the golden trio anything." His voice was harsh and controlled. Hermione could feel the chill travel down her spine.

"Please, I'm sorry. I ramble when I'm nervous. I am here for a good reason, I promise!"

Draco looked at the desperation and pleading look on her face and once again pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes. "You have one minute. Get to the point, or get out." He didn't move from the doorway, simply leaned his body across it.

"As I said, I felt like I was missing something. I finally got in touch with my contact in Scotland Yard and we felt as if the next course of action would be to backtrack the victim's final days. It was there, in the video footage where I noticed him."

"Notice who?"

"The man. The man from your father's trial…..the one who showed up out of nowhere and testified against him."

Dorian Blackwood


End file.
